Associate Professor of Theatre Coordinator of Theatre Minor Coordinator of Theatrical Production & Technology Certificate
Professor Erika Guay hails from Virginia, holds a B.A. from Gettysburg College and
a M.F.A. from University of North Carolina Greensboro. She is a member of the United
States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), Kennedy Center American College Theatre
Association (KCACTF), Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Psi Omega. She has specialties in design
and building puppets, mask making and Asian theatre. Her current research focuses
on ecoscenography and sustainability in theatre design.
Erika is regularly the faculty mentor for student designers. She also provides mentorship
for design, technology and management students for presentations at the Kennedy Center
American College Theatre Festival and other conference opportunities.
Erika’s love of puppets began while studying bunraku with the Tonda Ningyo Troupe in Biwa-cho, Japan. From this experience she performed
with the Bunraku Bay Puppet Company at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She has
designed and built puppets for many productions including an award winning puppet
for the Opera Barnum’s Bird, many innovate animal puppets for the children’s tour show, Wiley and the Hairy Man, and bunraku inspired puppets for the SUNY Plattsburgh premier of The Bamboo Princess.
Erika is a committed community member of the North Country. She has worked on productions
for the North Country Ballet Ensemble, Adirondack Ballet Company, Pendragon Theatre
in Saranac Lake, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, The Depot Theatre in Westport, and
at The Strand Theatre in downtown Plattsburgh. Erika helps her husband with his maple
syrup operation, raises and sells lamb locally, entertains her students with tales
of chickens and gardening, while also raising her two kids.
